JNPT-affected fishermen put off channel bandh plan till December 21

A highlevel meeting involving the district administration senior police officials and a letter of assurance from the Union Shipping Ministrys office has led Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust JNPT projectaffected fishermen from Hanuman Koliwada to postpone the channel bandh agitation yesterday to December 21 This decision followed discussions held on Monday The preparation for the channel bandh was already executed by placing fishing boats and a large number of fisherwomen already stationed at strategic points inside the creek to prevent any restriction from police However they all were called back post the discussionHighlevel meetingParmanand Koli secretary of the Maharashtra Small Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union said ldquoSome of our representatives were called for a highlevel meeting on Monday afternoon which was attended by Bharat Waghmare deputy collector rehabilitation and senior police officials The agenda for the meeting was to appraise the projectaffected fishermen about the latest development in our demands and they requested us to call back the channel bandh protest to which we agreed as per their assurancesrdquoChalo DelhildquoThe deputy collector informed us that he would take two of our representatives to Delhi on December 9 and would appraise the situation personally to highranking officials from the Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways so that the issue could be resolved at the earliest He also assured us that a tender for the construction of internal roads at the proposed plots for rehabilitation near JNPT township villages Jaskhar and Funde will be floated soon And that the work on the same would be commenced once the tender was awarded to the contractorrdquo said KoliHanuman Koliwada fishermen during a highlevel meeting with the deputy collector rehabilitation and senior police officialsldquoWe have unanimously agreed on the name of Ramesh Koli general secretary Maharashtra Small Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union and will soon finalise the second name to visit Delhi to persuade our plea and conditionrdquo said KoliProperty card demandldquoFurthermore our demand for handing over the 712 property cards as owners of the plot has been kept pending for approval from the central government Only after this approval can JNPA transfer the proposed rehabilitation land to the collector of Raigad and only then can the revenue department prepare the 712 property cards in the names of each of the 256 families who need to be rehabilitatedrdquo said KolildquoDuring the meeting the issue of overflowing gutters and accumulated garbage which have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and crawling creatures was also discussed The fishermen were assured that the gutters would be cleaned and the garbage would be cleared immediately However even after nearly 24 hours since the meeting we are still waiting for these assurances to be fulfilledrdquo said KoliOther sideWhen contacted Bharat Waghmare deputy collector rehabilitation for Raigad district confirmed that he would accompany two fishermen to Delhi to meet senior officials at the ministryldquoThe officials will receive firsthand accounts from the affected fishermen and understand the seriousness of the issue which should help in making a timely decisionrdquo Waghmare said When asked about the expenses for air tickets and accommodation the deputy collector stated ldquoWe will request JNPA to handle the costsrdquoRegarding the tender he mentioned ldquoThe tender for road construction at the proposed site is ready for approval We estimate the cost to be over 3 crore and once approved it will be floated and the work will be assigned The entire rehabilitation process is awaiting consent from the central governmentrdquo